ARSENE WENGER SIGNS NEW DEALArsene Wenger has signed a contract extension with Arsenal, tying him to the club until June 2014.
The Frenchman, who is the north London club's longest-serving manager, joined the Gunners in 1996 and has led them to three Premier League titles and two FA Cup wins.
He said: "My heart belongs to Arsenal and my desire is to see this team win silverware. My commitment and drive are as strong and fresh as ever.
"Signing a new deal means that I can see this talented group of players reach their potential. Trust me, they are ready to deliver."
Wenger is acutely aware of the responsibility he has to bring trophies to the Arsenal fans - because it is he who has fed their hunger for success.
The pressure has been on in recent years with the club not having claimed a trophy since 2005, and there have been the first hints of dissent among the Arsenal faithful.
But Wenger's desire for success has not diminished.
"I am as motivated as ever, if not more," he told the club's official website. "I have the trust from my board and hopefully of the fans as well and also from the players.
"I feel the energy, the need to drive this team forward and to win.
"I feel maybe an even higher responsibility than when I arrived because when you arrive somewhere you feel that if you are not good enough, you go.
"Now I know that the club is in the top eight in Europe and that expectation is very high, that every year you want to be in the Champions League.
"You feel the pressure even more, but it makes it as well more exciting and I take the challenge for the future in a very exciting way.
"I know I can give my best years now to this club, which has given me so much. I'm ready to give it my all and I can only show that by my commitment."
The deal indicates Wenger, who is the club's longest-serving and most successful manager, intends to see out his career at the Emirates.
He told last week's Observer: "I am at the stage where if I extend my contract, it means I will finish my career at club level at Arsenal. If I go for a different challenge - I have been offered many challenges, you know - it has to be now.
"That's a decision I have to make. But basically, I have no desire to change from here. I have one more year, and we are maybe thinking about extending it."
Having managed Monaco and Nancy in his native France and Nagoya Grampus in Japan, Wenger was seen as a surprised choice when he was appointed back in 1996, but he quickly won the fans over.
He led the club to third place in his first season, before guiding them to a league and cup double the following year.
Wenger's side claimed a second double in the 2001/2 campaign, and two seasons later he led his team to a third league title without losing a game.
With Wenger determined to stick to a policy of investing in youth and the club sticking to a rigid wage structure, success has been thin on the ground in recent times.
But Wenger believes the Gunners are ready to reap the rewards of their patient approach.
"We have not won for a few years now and it's important to get back to winning trophies because we have gone for a certain policy," he said.
"We maintained the club at the top level, but we want to get to the next step, to win trophies and to win the title and the Champions League of course.
"I believe there are decisive years in front of us, but as well, very exciting years in front of us because the team has matured a lot, there is a lot of potential and that is what I want to show, that we have made the right decisions and that we can win.
"We live in an environment which is more and more competitive, which is more and more investment-ready and so that means the difficulties are higher as well.
"But I am convinced that we can be rewarded in the coming years and we are prepared for that, we worked very hard for that, and my staff and everybody at the club is convinced we can get it."
Gunners chief executive Ivan Gazidis accepts it is time Arsenal turn their attractive football into trophies.
"I know that Arsene shares the frustration of the fans that we haven't quite got over the line but we do have a very talented young group of players," he told
www.arsenal.com."They are no longer using youth as an excuse, they are now a young group of players who has experience and we believe they are equipped to take the club over the line. We got very close last year before we had some crippling injuries at the end of the season, which just meant that we ran out of steam.
"But as we look forward over the next three or four years this is a team which is just going to get better and better, so we are very optimistic."
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